Real-Time Control for Optimal Liquid Rocket Combustor Performance
Abstract
To meet the goals of this program, a "smart" liquid fuel injector, whose spray pattern can be modified by controlling the flow rate of two coaxial, counter swirling, oxidizer (air) streams that control the characteristics of the fuel spray, was developed and tested under cold-flow conditions and in combustion experiments. The cold flow experiments have clearly shown that it's possible to drastically change the characteristics of the fuel spray by changing the relative flow rates of the two oxidizer streams. The performance of this "smart" injector was studied in two combustors that were developed for this study. The first has one "smart" injector at the center of its injector plate and the second seven such injectors uniformly distributed on the injector plate. Both combustors have quartz walls to allow extensive access for optical diagnostics. Open loop tests with the single injector combustor showed that the "smart" injector can suppress longitudinal combustion instabilities by varying the split between the flow rates of the two controlling oxidizer streams (see AIAA papers 2003-4937, 2004-1034 and ASME Paper # GT2005-69138).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA443134
Entities
People
- Ben T. Zinn
- Eugene Lubarsky
- Yedidia Neumeier
Organizations
- Georgia Tech